2012 February 11

Whew!
Something weird happened to my computer yesterday while I was trying to post here.  The screen started going wild.  It ended up with the screen image rotated ninety degrees clockwise (after rotating around and around for a little bit).
To make the cursor go up and had to go left to go down I had to go right and to go right I had to go down and to go left I had to go up.  Bizarre!
I used my other s l o w e r laptop to email a friend who knows about such things and asked for help.  He sent me instruction and I have, this morning, gotten it working and looking as it should be. 
Whew!


We woke to one degree temperatures this morning and it dropped to minus one degree for a bit.  It has warmed up to five degrees now .... yeah.  The sun is shining so brightly that it is adding heat to the RV as it comes streaming through the windows.  Good ol' passive solar.


Ella worked yesterday evening.  A Boy Scout troop had rented the clubhouse for an overnight 'winter campout'.  When I went to pick her up from work, the scout leaders fixed individual pizzas for her and me.  That was her reward for letting the kids use the pool past the normal closing time.  Nice!

2012 February 10

The good news is: the sun is shining (intermittently) 
The rest of the news is: it is ten degrees with a predicted high of seventeen and wind gusts up to thirty miles per hour. (wind chill of COLD).
And tomorrow is supposed to be even colder.
To recap:  January ended with a new record of sixty-eight degrees.  We also had less snow than parts of Texas. And tomorrow's high is supposed to be fifteen. 


We thank God for a warm home out of the wind.  Please pray for those who live on the streets.


Ella started taking her eye drops this morning.  Four times a day for the next few days until the cataract surgery.


Heather called this morning.  She and Mike are considering opening a Bed and Breakfast.  She asked me to help design a logo.


I'm falling behind here.  Adam asked me to illustrate a children's book he has written.  I have some sketches done on that.  However I'm not happy with them.  I'm having trouble waking my muse.   Heck, I don't even know where my muse is anymore.

2012 February 09

Grimes, IA at 10:23 a.m.

27°F Current: Overcast Wind: SW at 8 mph Humidity: 69%

Thursday forecast: high 31°, low 13°

I awoke around seven this morning and was disoriented because the lights were on.  I soon realized that the lights were not on and that it was just a bright morning.

It’s been a while since I’ve slept until it was that bright out.  It had not yet reached sunrise but with the snow on the ground and the fog in the air, everything had an even brightness to it.  There was no visible change when the astrological sunrise occurred.

I prepared breakfast in the electric George Forman Grill.  This grill has interchangeable plates, one of which is a shallow ‘pan’.  I mixed up an omelet with ¼ cup of water, a heaping tablespoon of pancake mix and four eggs.  To this I added sliced mushrooms, crisp bacon and shredded cheese (Monterey jack and cheddar).  I was going to add dice tomatoes but didn’t get around to it.

The reason I didn’t get around to adding the tomatoes was because I realized that I had bumped the faucet lever and had left a trickle of water running onto the counter top.  So, in the middle of fixing the omelet, I was also quickly moving things off of the counter and sopping up water.

I just realized that I should have taken a photo of the omelet and sent it to my son Adam for his blog, “Adam DoesFood Porn”.  (it has everything to do with food and nothing to do with porn, so don’t ask me why it is named that.)

We have nothing much on the schedule for today.  Ella is now up and has eaten her omelet, so we will be going to WalMart to pick up her prescription eye drops.  The drops are in preparation for her first cataract surgery this coming Monday.

I have the Bible Study at Emeritus at one thirty and then nothing else scheduled for today.  As you can see from the forecast, it doesn’t look like a good week for outdoor activities.

2012 February 08

Wednesday. Babysitting with the greats 'till noon.

(with a side trip to the Men's Bible study at 8:30).

Then lunch at Village Inn (pie rush Wednesday ... gotta love free pie).

Then on to church to assist with the Accidental Angels after school program for middle school kids.  They combined with the elementary program, UP Kids, to have a meal at five.  The parents and other family members are invited to come for the meal.  

Here is a short video of some of the activities toward the end of the meal.

2012 February 07

Baby sat with "greats" until they went to school and preschool.  Enjoyed the time with them.

Annika sent this picture of the snow they had in Vienna.  Not quite as much as we had here at Cutty's.

2012 February 06

2012 February 08

          This is a little disappointing; Beth just called at about six fifteen to tell us that Cierra and the great granddaughters were all sick today.  That means we will not be babysitting.  Up at 5:45, breakfast eaten, snow shoveled, truck started and warmed, and now no place to go. Guess I'll get on line and post.

          Yesterday, Sunday, we both went to Sunday school and church.  Ella did not have to work because it was her weekend off.  With the snow (we had six to eight inches here and in Des Moines they had two to four) and the Super Bowl, we weren’t sure how many would be at church.  As it turned out, we had about the normal crowd.  After church we had a fellowship meal of Poppa John’s Pizza.  The rest of the day we ‘nested’, watched TV and read.

* * * 2012 February 06 part 2

I’ve had a busy day after all.  About eleven I went to the office and paid for our month’s electricity ($19.85) and storage.  From there I went the Iowa Department of Public Health to order copies of my birth and marriage certificates.  Now that I’ve turned sixty-five, I can start drawing my retirement. However, along with the forms I have to prove that I was born.  And for Ella to inherit any portion that is left when I die, I have to prove that she was born and that we are married.  Funny, when I was hired for that job all I had to provide was a driver’s license.

        After leaving the IDPH, I stopped by our church and asked our church secretary to make PDF copies of my medical documents.  I will carry that information on a flash drive when we travel.  We’ll do the same with Ella’s also.

          On the way home, I picked up our mail.  And, Yeah!, my prescriptions from the VA have arrived.  Now I never have to visit Walgreens again!  Two of my meds are not available through the VA so those will be filled at WalMart.

         Ella had a three o’clock appointment for a pre surgery physical.  One week from today she will have the cataract removed from her right eye and a plastic lens permanently inserted.

         Since the doctor’s office is right next to WalMart, we stopped to drop of the prescription for the two non-VA prescriptions.  While we were there we picked up a few groceries.

          One more stop at Kum and Go to top off the gasoline tank.

          We had only just arrived home when Ella was called into work to cover for Lisa or Bob for a couple of hours.